John Denver's Secret Backup Singer On This 1975 Soft Rock Hit Was A Star With Her Own No. 1s

John Denver had established himself as one of America's most uplifting songwriters by the mid-1970s, with a solo career that made him a star in his own right after early successes writing for acts including Peter, Paul & Mary. Denver maintained solo billing, but even on some of his biggest hits, there were other stars involved behind the scenes.

"Fly Away," for example, Denver's sweet ballad about a woman wanting to leave everything behind and escape from city life, is in fact a duet with an uncredited superstar: Olivia Newton-John. Her vocals feature prominently throughout the song, but surprisingly, 7-inch singles of "Fly Away" contained no notice of her involvement at all, listing only Denver as the singer and songwriter, his producer Milton Okun and co-producer Kris O'Connor.

This is surprising for two reasons. First, Newton-John doesn't simply provide subtle backing vocals — her contribution is sizeable, with her voice appearing during passages when Denver's is absent, echoing and complementing his vocal lines, making it a true duet. Second, she was a huge star in her own right by the time "Fly Away" was released in late 1975, with two No. 1 singles to her name: 1974's "I Honestly Love You" and 1975's "Have You Never Been Mellow."

But the absence of Olivia Newton-John's name from the packaging of John Denver's "Fly Away" wasn't intended as a slight or sign of disrespect toward the star vocalist. In fact, Denver and Newton-John were firm friends throughout their lives, both bonding through their status as pop stars working in the country mode who weren't fully accepted by the genre's purists. The generally accepted reason is that Denver and Newton-John belonged to different record labels, and they decided to avoid drawing too much attention to the latter's contribution to avoid legal wrangles.

"Fly Away" was an overwhelming success for John Denver, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hitting the top spot on the Adult Contemporary chart, with Newton-John's uncredited vocals adding to the song's wide appeal. However, Newton-John's crucial contribution to "Fly Away" didn't go entirely unheralded. Denver and Newton-John also appeared alongside each other to sing "Fly Away" on "The John Denver Christmas Special" in 1976.